Structural steel wrapping spacer



AMay 17, 1932.

F. H. MARTELL STRUCTURAL STEEL WRAPPING SPACER Filed March 14, 1950 xm?n l N VEN TOR.

A TTORNEY` Vto Patented May 17',A 1932 r'oRRnsT i-z. MARTELL, orMILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, AssIGNoR To s. 1v1.

STRUCTURAL STEEL WRAPPING SPACER Application .ined Mariahilf, 1930.serial No. 435,814.

This invention'relates to improvements in structural steel wrappingspacers.V

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a spacerfor structural 5, steel wrapping which is of a standard size and may beused with.V all widths of flanges.

and with all thicknesses of flanges of structural steel ordinarilyencountered, therebyl eliminating the necessity of having on hand 1o andsorting various sized spacers for use on steel Vmembers of different`sizes during construction work. Y j A A further object of the inventionis to provide structural steel wrapping spacers which may be applied onsteel members in any desired spacing arrangement, depending upon thespecifications. Y f.

Wrapping devices now on the market are constructed so that the `wrappingwire directlyV engages the lower flange of a structural'steelbeam, andin-the event of any bending the lower iiange of the beam-is where thegreatest stress ordinarily occurs, and if the wrapping wire adjacent thelower flange of the beam is not completely encased inthe concrete, itwill not withstand the maximum amount of stresses.

A further object-ofthe invention is to provide a structural steelvwrapping spacer which will overcome the above disadvantages by spacingor holding wire away from the lower flangev of the beam out into thelmiddle of the cementitious mass, whereby the wrapping wire is thoroughlyencased in concrete and will develop its fullest strength. 1

. A further object of the invention is to provide a structural steelwrapping spacer and l wrapping wherein the latter, by being secured overthe top flange of the beam, or on oppogages directly or indirectlyfounedge portions of the steel member' and will therefore bind and beprevented from sliding out of position, and the spacer per se, whenencased in the cementitious mass, will assist in holding the latter inplace around the structural steel member.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structural steelwrapping spacer and site sides of the spacer, gives added strength' tothe beam, inasmuch as the wrapping enwrapping therefor, which, whenapplied to Y l sIEsEL (1o.,'orv MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, A ooRroRATIoN lorWisooNsrN f beams in concrete construction work, will notV prevent thefreeowl of cementitious material around the beams.' l A further obj ctof the invention is to provide a structural steel'wrapping spacer whichmay be erected very easily and quickly, which is strong and durable,which 1s inexpensivel to manufacture, and which is well adapted for thepurposes described.l j i With the above and other objects in View, theinvention consists of the impro-ved struc-A tural steel wrapping spacerand its parts vand combinations as set forth in the claims, and allequivalents thereof. f

In the accompanying drawings `in which I the same reference charactersindicatethe same partsl in all of the views:

Fig-1 is a Vcross-sectional view through a horizontally disposedstructural steel beam having the improved spacers'applied thereto andwrapping engaging the spacers and the beam, .with the beam and spacersand wrapping shown encased-ina cementitious mass molded thereabout; 1

soY

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary'perspectiveV view n of the upperflange of asteel beam showing howthe wrapping engages'said upper flange; Fig. 3 isa. detail perspective View ofra spacer; Y

Vformed of a length of wire of a suitable gauge, or. other similarmaterial, which'is lyelda'ble or bendable, andl said wire Vis bent toform two laterally opposed clip portions 9,4 andbelow the clip portions,are doubled over rearwardly turned portions l0 which extendV outwardlyand are joined by a transverse portion ll-formed withan intermediateinwardlycurvedor recessed portion 12.' Y Y Y 8o i Fig. Llis a detailperspective viewona f f 9 of the spacer, as at 20.v When a y by thespacers. as

A structural steel I-beam 13, disposed horizontally, as in ceilingconstructions, is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and the improved spacers 8 areadapted to be applied `to the opposite lower flanges 14 thereof intheman-- ner shown in Fig. 1 and said spacers, on each lower flange, Vmaybe spaced apart longitudinally of the beam at any convenient distance. fThe clip portions 9 of each spacer are yielding and engage a flangeportion 14 of the I-beam and are held on said flange by the tension ofthe clip portions. The spacer members may be further secured to somt orform boards 15 by staples 16 engaging lower portions of the spacersand'extending into the form* boards. l/Jith pairs vof spacers disposedas shown in Fig. 1 on opposed sides of the lower flanges of the I-beam,a wrapping wire may be supported thereby and spaced from the lowerflange of the I-beam. Said wrapping wire 17 is extended below the lowerflanges of the I-beam and engages in the recesses 12 of the transverseportions 11 of the twoy opposed spacer The wrapping wire is then bentupwardly on bot-h sides and is extended over and around the upper flange1'8' ofthe I-beam, and the opposite end portions of the wrapping wireare then wrapped or bent around opposite portions of the upper flangeand against lower surfaces thereof, as clearly shown in Figsfl and 2. Asshown Vin Fig. 4, a number of spacers 8 may be suitably joined togetherat spaced intervals in a longitudinal line by a longitudinally extendingwire or strip 19 which is welded to lower corner portions of -the clipportions number of spacers are so ]oined they may be quick- .lyappliedto one side ofthe lower portion of 'an I-beam and will becorrectly spaced and will be held in correctspaced relation.

After the application of the spacers to the lower flanges of ahorizontal I-beam, and after the wrapping wire has been engageddescribed and bent about the upper flange of the I-beam, cementitiousmaterial, as indicated by the numeral 21, may be poured into the sofitor form boards, surrounding the beam and spacers and wrapping wire,as'shown clearly in Fig. 1. When the concrete has set, the spacing wirewill be embedded in the c'ementitiousmass and will be firmly supportedspacedly from the lower I-beam, givingto lthe -beam Fig. 5 illustratesthe manner in which the improvedspacers are applied to a vertical l,column.

I-beamsuch as is used in forming a vertical Y In this form, the spacersare clipped ontothe flanges 22 of the vertical I-beam 13 and arepositioned in vertically spaced apart arrangement on all of the flanges.The wrapping wire 17 is then bent about the beam and spacers inafsubstantiallyjsquared form and is engaged at each corner portionwithin a recess 12 of a spacer. The wrapping wire` so disposed isprevented from slipping and is held by the spacers outwardly of and awayfrom all portions ofthe flanges of the I-beam. tious material 21 ispoured into the form 15 it will surround or encase the I-beam, the

. spacers and the wrapping wires, and all portions of the wrapping wireswill be encased in a substantial mass of concrete and will be spacedaway from the flanges of the beam.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the improvedspacers, when mounted on flanges of structural steel beams or columns,securely support wrapping wire for the beams or columns and hold thewrapping wires in the proper spaced relation outwardly of the surface ofthe beams or columns, whereby the wrapping wires become embeddedV in thecementitious mass poured around the beam or column and the greatestpossible strength is secured. The improved spacers and wrapping appliedthereto do not in any way restrict the free flow of cementitiousmaterial around the steel members during the construction work, and thespacers and wrapping are of such nature' that they may be easily andquickly applied to the structural steel beams or columns. Furthermore,the improved spacers and wrapping J therefor are of simple and novelconstruction and are well adapted for the purposes set forth.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a building construction, a'flanged beam, a pair of metallicspacing members engaging opposite sides of a flange thereof, eachspacing member having a yieldable clip portion and an offset recessedportion, a separate wrapping element surroundingthe beam and engagingthe offset recessed portions of the spacing members and supported bysaid members spacedly, outwardly of all portions of said flange, andcementitious material surrounding the Vbeam encasing the same, thespacing members and the wrapping element.

2. A. structural steel vwrapping spacer, comprising duplicate,spaced-apart parallel members, each consisting of a yielding, U- shapedengaging clip with the lower arm of the clip bent rearwardly uponitself, and a transverse member joining th-e outer ends of therearwardly bent arm portions of the duplicate clips, said transversemember having an intermediate recess to receive therein a portion of aseparate wrapping element.

K In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

- FORREST H. MARTELL.

Therefore, when the cementi-

